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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28297647">in the bleak midwinter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/noodlerdoodler/pseuds/noodlerdoodler'>noodlerdoodler</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - No Sparrow Academy (Umbrella Academy), Autistic Allison Hargreeves, Autistic Number Five | The Boy, Autistic Vanya Hargreeves, Canon Jewish Character, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Special, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Diego Hargreeves is Jewish, Diego Hargreeves-centric, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Good Parent Grace Hargreeves, Good Sibling Allison Hargreeves, Good Sibling Vanya Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves Deserves Better, Multi, Not Beta Read, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Other, Post-Canon Fix-It, Spongebob Voice: The Gang's All Here, The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy) Need a Hug, Trans Diego Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves Gets a Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:55:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,503</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28297647</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/noodlerdoodler/pseuds/noodlerdoodler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which: Allison hosts an informal family party, Five wears a Christmas sweater, Diego surprises everyone, Luther is a good brother, Klaus loves decorating, and Vanya finally gets a hug.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Allison Hargreeves &amp; Everyone, Diego Hargreeves &amp; Grace Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves &amp; The Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves &amp; Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) &amp; Everyone, The Hargreeves Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>115</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in the bleak midwinter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is actually set in early december but i didn't edit it until now lmao</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was Allison’s idea that they should hang up Christmas decorations this year. It was a tradition that the family had never taken part in; although their father sometimes allowed a tree in the main room, it was always sparse and more furniture than festive. They hadn't even been allowed to go near it, in case they treaded the fallen pine needles through the house. But Allison was determined that this year would be different. Since spending two years alone in Dallas, she had become more keen on family time than ever and the others privately agreed she deserved a break for once. Even if it was at the expense of family bonding.</p><p>“O Christmas Five, O Christmas Five,” Klaus sung cheerily as he draped tinsel around his brother, “How angry are thy branches.”</p><p>Decked out in brand new Christmas decorations, Five looked mildly amused as opposed to irritated. He’d been in a slightly better mood since they’d gotten back to 2019 and realised that they’d successfully prevented the apocalypse. It was all over. There was no reason for him to be constantly on edge anymore and he seemed to be learning, bit by bit, to relax a little more. Even if saving the world had left Five without a sense of purpose: many times, his siblings had found him pacing the halls at night and had to steer him back to his bedroom. The apocalypse had been the centre of his existence for so long, it probably wasn't surprising that he had lingering anxiety about it. </p><p>In fact, slumped in the armchair with a hot coffee, it was probably the longest Five had sat <em>still</em> since they got back. He had promised to try and relax for everyone's sake, being on his best behaviour to keep Allison happy. And to his credit, he’d been fairly compliant with the Christmas extravaganza so far, despite his initial attempts to wriggle out of it. Although, as Klaus attempted to hang baubles from his blazer, it was looking more and more likely that Five might commit homicide soon.</p><p>“Klaus! Those decorations are for the house,” Allison chastised him gently, “Stop decorating Five and come help with the tree.”</p><p>Darkly, Five mumbled, “Before I strangle you with the tinsel.”</p><p>With careful precision, Allison styled the ornaments on the tree: nearly all of them were brand new, fresh from the store, and they looked tacky. She found herself wishing for the haphazard and handmade ones from home, which Claire had made as a toddler. It made her heart throb in her chest, filling her with a sense of loss- Allison tried to focus on the positives instead. She’d picked out some nice decorations at the store with Luther, tring to make their drab old house feel festive, and thought she’d done a good job. At least compared to what her siblings had rifled up at home.</p><p>Vanya had dug out a few pathetic-looking ornaments from the attic, most of them dusty and neglected. It had hardly been worth dodging the spiderwebs that had taken up residence there but some of them were acceptable enough. A little snow globe of the city was her favourite, which Five had advised her to keep it away from Klaus. She wasn't sure why but there had been such a serious look in his eye that she was compelled to tuck the snow globe away safely. Klaus had skipped out on both tasks (in typical fashion) and had instead elected to string old liquor bottles up like baubles. He'd made most of the new ornaments into rudimentary jewellery.</p><p>As for Diego… he’d been out all day.</p><p>“Uh, did Diego tell you if he was coming?” Luther asked his sister awkwardly, adding another loop to the paper chain they were working on together.</p><p>The two of them were navigating a tentative friendship, full of unsure looks and friendly smiles, but were finding it difficult to get past their troubled history. They were still awkward around each other. Mostly, they were content to work together in companionable silence, since neither of them were great at making small talk. Dressed in garish Christmas sweaters that Klaus picked out for them, Luther and Vanya had managed to work quietly on their paper chain for quite some time. They were making great progress- at least, until Vanya froze suddenly and looked up at her brother. </p><p>Frowning, she said, “I thought we agreed that Klaus was telling him.”</p><p>Both of them turned to look at Klaus, who was balancing a star on top of their brother’s head. He was still half-singing, half-mumbling his own version of Christmas carols, clearly in a good mood. Although the party had been Allison's idea, he had been her main co-conspirator and had been the one to force nearly everyone into awful festive sweaters. Nearly everyone. Five was still holding out, even if he was decked out like a Christmas tree. </p><p>“Klaus?” Luther called, “Did you talk to Diego?”</p><p>For a moment, their brother thought about this. The star slid out of his grip, bouncing off Five’s head (who scowled) and clattering across the floor towards the tree. Allison scooped it up and rolled her eyes at them. <em>Boys</em>, went unsaid. Before Klaus could answer, (he didn’t really need to, as his clumsiness had already given away his guilt), Five blinked out of his armchair and left nothing more than a pile of Christmas decorations in his wake.</p><p>“I thought Allison was inviting him,” Klaus shrugged, finally.</p><p>A few minutes passed before they heard footsteps on the stairs and Five reappeared in the room, shaking his head slowly. In other words: no sign of Diego in his room or anywhere else in the house for that matter. He wasn’t sulking about the fact he hadn’t been invited, which was the conclusion most of them had jumped to, but just had no idea the party was even happening. Vanya privately thought it was probably better that way, as she had always been heartbroken when her family had left her out, but supposed it didn't really matter. Either way, her brother would be (justifiably) upset. </p><p>“So, uh, nobody invited Diego to the family Christmas party?” Vanya worried, “Won’t he be mad?”</p><p>When they’d gotten back from the 60s, they’d all agreed to try and be closer as a family. They’d spent far too much time apart and had learned the hard way how lonely it was to be without a family, even if it was one full of assholes. How <em>difficult</em> it was. It was the main reason why they'd all agreed to come to the Christmas party- they weren't a particularly religious family but the holidays were a good reason to spend time together. Until now, it had even seemed to be going well. Until they'd realised that Diego had been forgotten, which made most of them feel terribly guilty. Even Five looked sheepish.</p><p>Before anybody could reply, there was the sound of the front door being unlocked, pushed open, and then swinging shut with a bang. Diego was home.</p><p>He was whistling as he walked into the room, the knives still strapped to his chest and back making it clear what he'd been up to. With one glance, he surveyed the room- taking in the Christmas tree hung with cheap ornaments, the plate of iced cookies that Luther had made, and the festive Five flopping back into his arm chair- and quirked an eyebrow curiously. Still, he looked more amused than pissed off. </p><p>“Hey,” He said nonchalantly, swiping a Christmas cookie from the plate, “Why does Five look like Christmas puked on him?”</p><p>“Somebody put Klaus in charge of the decorations,” grumbled Five.</p><p>Despite losing most of the decorations when he teleported, there was still stray tinsel dangling around his neck like a scarf and a few baubles secured to him. As soon as he’d flopped back into his armchair, Klaus had promptly resumed decorating him with a string of spare lights. It might've seemed like he was trying to test Five's limits, seeing how far he could go before his older brother snapped, but he actually trying to cheer him up. Like the rest of them, Five had been having a hard time lately and Klaus knew from personal experience that being sparkly <em>always, always</em> helped. Plus, it was fun. </p><p>Vanya got to her feet quickly, “Hey, Diego. We’re so sorry.”</p><p>There was genuine guilt creasing her brow, though it wasn’t unlike Vanya to take the fall for everyone else. As a kid, she’d often confessed to breaking things that she'd never laid a finger on because she hated seeing the others being punished. Something about her kind nature made her keen to protect her siblings. <em>Besides, she always had more than enough time for extra chores,</em> or at least that was how she'd justified it at the time. </p><p>“We forgot to invite you to the family Christmas party,” Allison filled in, “We’re really sorry. You haven’t missed much, so you can just-“</p><p>Diego snorted with laughter, “Allie, I don’t celebrate Christmas. So, don’t worry about it.”</p><p>Biting into his cookie, he chewed for a few seconds, screwed up his face, and tossed the remainder back on the plate. Gross. His siblings had expected anger, annoyance at the least, and were puzzled by his reaction. For once, Diego really didn’t seem bothered in the slightest that he’d been excluded from a family event. This was unusual, given that Diego had historically hated being left out. He’d practically foamed at the mouth when he’d been forbidden from bowling with them, on the basis that his powers gave him an unfair advantage. It was for the best: Five had looked on the verge of a murderous rampage when Diego scored his fifth strike in a row.</p><p>There was a sparkle in his eyes, suggesting Diego wasn't even upset, and he bypassed tree in favour of the stairs.</p><p>“Wait! Diego!” Allison called after him, “Please?”</p><p>She could understand why he wasn't interested in celebrating Christmas. Their father had always taken a clinical approach to the holidays, making sure to strip out the wonder and joy, and instead hit them with cold arguments about faith being for fools. Like with everything else, Reginald Hargreeves had found as many ways as possible to make Christmas miserable for his children. It had been hardly been the most magical time of the year. Allison supposed it would make sense that her siblings had written it off as a sad time of the year and turned their backs on it, especially someone as stubborn as Diego. </p><p>Her brother paused on the steps, turning back to face her curiously, “What?”</p><p>Klaus began, “Look, we’ve had some shitty Christmases in the past, so I understand you don’t like it because it kind of reminds you of Dad being a colossal dick every year-“</p><p>“But we’re doing it as a family thing,” Luther finished, “Maybe this year can be better?”</p><p>For a minute, a smile tugged at Diego’s lips and he seemed like he might laugh at them again. Then, abruptly, he realised that they were serious.</p><p>“It’s not about <em>Dad</em>,” He rolled his eyes, “I’m <em>Jewish</em>. I don’t celebrate Christmas.”</p><p>There was an awkward silence, before Luther finally said: “Oh.”</p><p>On Diego’s part, he was half-amused, half-annoyed that his siblings had forgotten. Although he didn’t really practice any sort of religion nowadays, Grace had been keen to let them all tap into their individual heritages, speaking Russian with Vanya and talking Korean history with Ben. As for Diego, he’d observed most Jewish holidays with his mom while he was growing up. They’d had a menorah in their front room, (alongside the sparse Christmas tree), and Grace had trusted him to light it every year. Back in the asylum, Lila had been amused to find out he mostly ate kosher and teased him when he said his mom always cooked it for him.</p><p>He’d kind of liked that he got to be special. Different from the others, in a way that nobody could take away from him or make him feel inferior for. Also, Diego had enjoyed doing the little rituals with Grace each year, even if he was a little skeptical about his belief in God, and knowing he was part of something bigger than him. Something bigger than the Academy. He belonged somewhere in the world, no matter what his father said. </p><p>“You never mentioned it,” Allison put her hands on her hips.</p><p>“Are you serious? I thought you knew. You all came to my bar mitzvah.”</p><p>“Oh, was that what that was?” Klaus murmured idly, “I thought I’d just taken one too many pills.”</p><p>Rolling his eyes again, Diego turned and stormed up the rest of the stairs in a huff. It hurt to think that his siblings had paid so little attention to him that they hadn’t even noticed that he’d skipped out on their (admittedly very small) Christmas celebrations for their entire childhood. Being Jewish was one of the only threads he had to connect himself to his birth mother- Judaism was passed down through the women of the family, Grace had explained to him once- and was therefore important to him. And since Grace no longer existed in this timeline, it would be the first year celebrating without her either. It hurt more than he wanted to admit.  </p><p>Downstairs, the siblings exchanged looks of concern and confusion.</p><p>Now that she thought about it, Allison did have a hazy memory of going to a synagogue during her teenage years and being delighted that she got to dress up for the event. Most of her childhood was an indistinct blur, which her marriage counsellor had once told her was a symptom of trauma, and it was suggested that she'd blocked most of it out to protect herself. Allison could only remember the dress and heels she'd worn, sitting with her hands folded neatly in her lap as Diego read something from a large scroll. But she’d not really understood the purpose of the ceremony or even the concept of religion.</p><p>“Ben would’ve known…” Klaus said, miserably.</p><p>In typical fashion, he was the first one to break the silence, though not with his usual flair. Klaus was mourning their dead brother seventeen years later than everyone else, the grief hitting him even harder now he was sober, and often looked physically pained by the loss. And, as usual, he was right: the compassionate Ben no doubt would've remembered. Still on her feet, Vanya crossed the room so that she could wrap her arms around Klaus' middle and give him a reassuring squeeze.</p><p>It seemed to cheer him up a little, though Vanya doubted the same tactic would work on Diego. Speaking of which, what were they supposed to do?</p><p>She shook her head, “I feel awful. How could we have forgotten something like that?”</p><p>“Dad hated religion,” Five said flippantly, “I wonder if Diego’s mom made him promise to raise him Jewish before she would hand him over? He might have notes in his office…”</p><p>He was wearing a thoughtful expression on his face, the same kind that he wore when he was calculating equations or writing notes. One could practically see the cogs turning inside his head, as he finally had something to focus on besides the apocalypse. Already, Five was probably planning to turn their father's office inside-out searching for their adoption papers. However, it was a little hard to take the old man seriously when he was still dressed from head to toe in Christmas decorations. It didn't help that Klaus had wrapped in him lights and turned them to the 'party' setting, making him flash bright colours. </p><p>“It doesn’t matter,” Luther cut him off, “This is about Diego, not Dad.”</p><p>Allison quirked an eyebrow, secretly pleased, and said: “Somebody’s changed their tune.”</p><p>Two years ago, she couldn’t have imagined Luther putting anyone before their father. Especially the brother that he bickered and fought with the most. While most of them had turned against Reginald Hargreeves either as children or after Ben died, Luther had continued to worship their father and the ground he walked on. He'd readily thrown away his entire life at his father's command. Privately, Allison couldn’t help thinking how much Luther had grown as a person since they'd reunited. Not only had he started to live his own life, he'd been able to stand up to Reginald at the dinner and was now brushing any thoughts about him aside. Allison couldn't help feeling proud.</p><p>Meanwhile, Luther just offered a half-shrug. He looked a bit pleased. </p><p>Five continued, "Fine, fine, what do we do about Diego?" </p><p>“Could we have one of those Jewish parties where you get carried around on chairs?” Klaus wondered aloud, stroking his sister’s hair fondly, “I've always wanted to do that. Besides, parties are always a winner. Who doesn't like parties?" </p><p>Five shot him an exasperated look, “Okay, I’m open to suggestions from literally anyone else.”</p><p>There was a cry of protest from Klaus but he was silenced quickly by another harsh glance. He released Vanya from his arms so that he could return to playing with the decorations, stringing more baubles onto a string to create a makeshift necklace. Considering how abruptly his idea had been shot down, nobody seemed to be offering any alternatives: Allison opened her mouth, as if to suggest something, but quickly changed her mind, while Luther frowned so hard it looked like he might pop a vein. </p><p>“If Diego used to celebrate with Mom…” Vanya hesitated, looking suddenly very sad, “He probably misses her even more than usual right now.”</p><p>“Shit,” groaned Klaus.</p><hr/><p>By the time there was a knock on his bedroom door, Diego had cooled off a little.</p><p>He had a hot temper, which tended to flare quickly but died down almost immediately afterwards. It had been a source of amusement among his siblings when they were younger, since they knew that Diego was easy to piss off and that the results of doing so would be great. His temper was also part of the reason he'd been kicked out of the police academy. Still, there had been no malice or real anger directed towards his siblings. He was just raw about losing his mom, missed her more this time of year, and had been frustrated that they hadn't even realised he was Jewish. They'd literally grown up together?</p><p>Diego unhooked his knife belt, tossing it onto his childhood bed, and grabbed a clean shirt from his closet. It was more fact than fiction that crime rates rose around the holidays and a day's worth of of vigilantism had gotten blood on his turtleneck sweater. <em>There was nothing particularly festive about specks of blood</em>, Diego thought with a wry chuckle. He stripped his sweater off and was in the process of pulling on his fresh shirt, when there was a knock on his door.</p><p>Then, before he could respond, Luther walked in. Absolutely typical.</p><p>“You know, there’s really not much point in knocking if you’re just going to walk in anyway.”</p><p>Luther blinked, “Oh. I can go?”</p><p>“I’m not going to shoot the messenger, bro,” He buttoned up his shirt, turning away out of habit, “What did you want?”</p><p>He was a little surprised that Luther was the one who had come to speak to him. Sure, they'd gotten along well enough back in 1963 but that was for a brief period time and had been more out of necessity than anything. It would take longer than that to heal old wounds, especially since being back in this house seemed to reopen most of them. Him and Luther didn't <em>dislike</em> each other anymore but they definitely had a rough history, making him an odd choice to play peacemaker. That and Luther had all the emotional subtlety of a rock. </p><p>“Oh, right, uh, the whole Christmas party thing," Luther smiled tightly, "We’d really appreciate it if you came."</p><p>Chuckling, Diego said, "The six of us celebrating a virgin birth is ridiculous. Considering... You know." </p><p>It seemed to take his brother a second to understand, but then he laughed awkwardly as well. Diego wasn't an expert on Christianity but he'd read a handful of news clippings about the '43 miraculous births on October 1st 1989' and had seen comparisons drawn to religion. After all, there weren't many examples of babies born to mothers who hadn't previously been pregnant or (in some cases) were still virgins. Celebrating Christmas seemed... Ironic.</p><p>"It’s not really about Christmas. More about spending ‘family time’ together,” Luther glanced over his shoulder, as if to check for their other siblings, and lowered his voice, “It’s to cheer Allison up really.”</p><p>Diego considered this. He knew that Allison, out of all of them, had been having a rough couple of months. Not only had she been stranded in the 1960s for two years, thinking that her entire family was dead, she'd also been forced to abandon her family for the second time when she left her husband behind. Even worse, her daughter didn't seem to exist at all in the timeline that they'd jumped to. While she'd been putting on a brave face, it was clear that Allison was struggling to deal with all of this and needed her remaining family to hang on to. She'd also clearly gone to a lot of effort arranging the party. </p><p>Although he didn't celebrate Christmas, Diego didn't see any reason he couldn't watch the others decorate. Maybe eat some more of the terrible cookies. It was better than the alternative, which was sitting in his room and thinking about how he usually spent Hannukah with his mom.</p><p>“Sure," Diego said finally, "Why not? Anything to see Five in a festive sweater.”</p><p>It made Luther grin: “Allison and Klaus are doing their best.”</p><p>And, indeed, they found when they returned to the main room that the pair had succeeded. Now, Five was swaddled in an oversized Christmas sweater, looking royally pissed off about it, in addition to the other decorations Klaus had hung on him. It was unclear how their siblings had managed to wrestle the trained assassin into the reindeer-themed sweater or how they had managed to survive the attempt. A peanut-butter-and-marshmallow sandwich was in his hands, suggesting that a bribe had been involved. Diego had to stifle a spluttered laugh at the sight of him, pretending that he’d just been overcome by a sudden coughing fit. </p><p>“Looking cool, bro,” He told his older brother.</p><p>Five glowered, “Stick it up your ass.”</p><p>Once he'd managed to stop snickering, Diego flopped onto the couch, grabbing another cookie from the plate and stuffing it in his mouth. It wasn’t as good as the cookies his mom used to make. In fact, they sucked. Then again, he’d always sworn by the fact Grace was the best baker in the world and nobody could compete with that. Luther went to help Allison with the tree, since she wasn’t tall enough to reach the upper branches and was calling for him to balance the star on top. Klaus was being no use at all, as he had switched the radio to a pop station and was now twirling aimlessly around the room in a bizarre one-person waltz.</p><p>The only person missing was Vanya. She popped into view a few minutes later, skipping down the last few stairs and smiling nervously at Diego. Held in her outstretched hands, as an obvious gesture of goodwill, was an old menorah. Since this was a different timeline, Diego couldn't be sure that it was the same one he'd had as a kid. It was covered in dust and had clearly resided in the attic for many years but Vanya was beaming with pride as she placed it on the coffee table.</p><p>“I thought we could light it together,” She said, “Like you used to with Mom.”</p><p>He stared at her, surprised, “You knew about that?”</p><p>“Side effect of being invisible,” Vanya shrugged, “You notice a lot of stuff other people don’t.”</p><p>She'd thought about saying something earlier, when everyone else was voicing their confusion, but hadn't been able to find the right words. Often, she wasn’t great at handling other people’s feelings. In fact, Vanya had chosen to hand off the responsibility of inviting Diego to the party- maybe Klaus hadn't been the best choice- because she was worried that she’d say the wrong thing and offend him. Still, she had remembered seeing the menorah in the attic earlier (while on the hunt for Christmas decorations) and had rushed to fetch it. Vanya had expected her older brother to laugh at her or, worse, think she was being deliberately stupid.</p><p>So, Vanya was very surprised when her brother got to his feet and stepped forward to pull her into a tight hug. Although she didn't know from firsthand experience, Diego reportedly gave great hugs. Now, she could confirm that the rumour was true, as she pressed her face into his chest and let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. He squeezed her close, both hands resting on her back, and rested his chin on her shoulder. After the shock settled, Vanya relaxed into his arms.</p><p>“Don’t tell Allison you’re my favourite sister,” He said, finally, when he released her.</p><p>It made Vanya giggle. Diego couldn’t remember the last time he heard her laugh.</p><p>“Klaus, can you turn the lights on?”</p><p>Having succeeded in planting the star at the top, the tree decorations were deemed complete by Allison. <em>It didn’t look too bad</em>, if she said so herself, though her siblings had been somewhat haphazard with their contributions. Vanya's contributions were neat and traditional, Klaus' were bright and chaotic, and all Five had contributed was glowering from his armchair at them. Oh, well. The most important thing was that they were all here together- as a family. Nudging Luther out of the way, Allison felt like an excited child at Christmastime as she pulled back and looked at the pine tree.</p><p>There were a few mumbled curses from Klaus, as he fiddled with the switches, and then a triumphant noise as he flicked the lights on. They really did look pretty, eliciting a pleased noise from Vanya and causing Allison to bounce in place, clapping her hands. Even Five nodded at it, seeming pleased with how it looked.</p><p>Luther studied how the lights lit up the room and said: “Dad would’ve hated it.”</p><p>“It’s perfect,” Diego agreed, “I’m sure Jesus would cream his jeans.”</p><p>“So, what are we thinking?” Klaus bobbed back to them, “More lights? More tinsel? More tequila? Yes to all. Wait, no, damn sobriety. Definitely more baubles.”</p><p>Vanya weighed in shyly, “We thought we could light the menorah together.”</p><p>The rest of her siblings mumbled their agreements. Except Five, who looked up from his sandwich and said:</p><p>“Who’s going to be responsible for keeping Klaus away from the open flame?”</p>
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